GAME REPORT

Jeremy Chappell scored 17 points for Triumph, including a clutch three in crunch time

Triumph Lyubertsy held off a late charge to edge out Dijon Basket72-69 in Group K of the EuroChallenge, eliminating the French club from quarter-final contention.

Triumph improved to 3-1 in the group by handing Dijon their fourth straight loss in the Last 16, but only after seeing a 14-point lead shrink to one with just two minutes left to play.

But a big three from Jeremy Chappell and key free throws from Kyle Landry helped Triumph steady the ship and see out the victory.

Until then, it had been looking rather routine, with Triumph pulling away late in the first quarter and holding a steady lead almost throughout.

When Courdon Higgins followed a Chappell three with a fast-break lay-up midway through the third period they led 46-33, and their advantage peaked when Dmitry Kulagin made it 53-39 with 2:50 left in the third.

They were still up by double-digits with six and a half minutes to go but Dijon launched a late charge.

Andre Harris and Terrance Campbell nailed three-pointers to make it 62-57 and then, after Artem Vikhrov sank two from the line, Antoine Mendy and Harris hit again from deep to cut the gap to 64-63 with 2:03 remaining.

Landry went to the line to make two and Chappell's three made it a six-point game with 62 seconds left.

Mendy nailed another three but a Harris shot missed and Triumph capitalised to restore their cushion, holding Dijon off down the stretch.

Chappell and Landry finished with 17 points apiece for Triumph, while Zacherie Moss led Dijon with 16 points and eight rebounds.

COACH QUOTES

Dijon Head Coach Jean-Louis Borg"We lost this game, I liked how my team played today, we showed good basketball. I liked how we played zone defence today, we made some good shots, but I didn't like our defensce in some moments. Now we have no chances to go to the play-offs, but we continue to work every game."

Dijon Player Lens Aboudou"We had a small rotation today, so the game was hard. Triumph is a good team on every position, we tried to fight, and we made a good job. We were very close at the end, but we lost today on free throws."

Triumph Head Coach Vasiliy Karasev"Today Dijon played the zone defence during the game, and in some moments we just stopped playing. When we were leading by more than 10 points we let the guests make their treys and we've got the tough end of the game. We made too many mistakes tonight, and now we need to do our homework."

Triumph Player Kyle Landry"Today we played like a team, and that's the most important. Dijon made some crazy shots at the end, but we won the game. I think that we controlled the game from the beginning till the end."